


Bloom

by Ginger375



Category: X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men Evolution
Genre: Bonding, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Friendship, Gardens & Gardening, Greenhouse, Pre-Relationship, Storm/Gambit friendship, eventually, romy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:02:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28739199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ginger375/pseuds/Ginger375
Summary: Post-series. Storm and Gambit hang out in the greenhouse.
Relationships: Remy LeBeau/Rogue
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	Bloom

“So how are you feeling?”

That was the ultimate question, wasn’t it? How was he feeling, what was he feeling, who was he feeling… okay, maybe not the last one, it just sounded creepy.

“In regards to what? Pretty broad question for me these days.” 

Storm nodded as she tended to a large fern that had clearly been neglected. She’d missed being in her greenhouse while she was...indisposed the past several weeks. “Indeed. I was referring to your physical well-being in this case.”

Remy leaned against a table of houseplants. He liked being in the greenhouse, it was warm and smelled good. “Still get the odd dizzy spell, but I’m told those’ll stop if I sleep more.” He touched the leaf of an African violet, feeling the fuzzy texture. “Feels like all I do is sleep these days.”

“Your brain got knocked around in that thick skull of yours, on top of everything else. Sleep allows your body time to heal.”

“I don’t remember you being this snarky when you were two feet shorter,” Remy said with a wry grin.

“I remember you being a lot funnier when I was two feet shorter,” she countered with a laugh. 

The easy friendship that had formed between the two mutants was one that few at the institute seemed to understand.

Being reduced not only physically, but mentally to that of a pre-teen who could barely control her powers had been traumatic for Ororo Munroe, but being found by Gambit had been a godsend. She’d known very little of the man prior to their chance encounter, other than the run-ins the X-men had had with the Acolytes back in the day. But something in her young mind said to trust him, that he would get her home safe.

And he had, albeit in a roundabout way. It took longer than expected and resulted in their breaking up a child smuggling ring, but he did as promised: he brought her back to her family.

That she’d been restored to her proper age was just an added bonus.

“How was your talk with Charles?” She asked, changing the subject.

“Found out you been talkin’ about me while I was unconscious,” he said accusingly.

“Besides that,” she ignored the insinuation, knowing he didn’t mean it.

Remy thought for a moment before he spoke. “He says I got empathic abilities now, doesn’t know how or why, but is willin’ to work with me on them.”

Storm smirked at him. “Told you so.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re all-knowin’, I bow before your immense knowledge of all things.”

“Smart ass.” She threw one of her gardening gloves at him. “Seriously though, I think this will be good for you. You wanted a fresh start…”

“Is it really a fresh start when I’m practically back where I started with mutant related stuff?” Remy muttered.

“You really think being here is going to be like it was with Magneto?”

“Well, you do have nicer livin’ quarters here, and a better a kitchen...and nobody tryin’ to set the place on fire,” he mused.

“But other than that?”

“Oh exactly the same,” he said sardonically, his gaze off into the middle distance. “Although, the company is considerably more pleasant.”

Storm was about to thank him for the lovely compliment when she saw he wasn’t looking at her. She turned to follow his gaze and spotted Rogue, who appeared to be out for one of her walks around the grounds.

“Have you spoken to her yet?”

He shook his head. “Not since I saw her when I first woke up.”

“And why not?”

He shrugged and reached up to rub the back of his head. “I dunno if I should.”

“She doesn’t bite, believe it or not,” Storm said

“I don’t want her thinkin’ I’m gonna use her again.”

“Are you?” Storm asked, one elegant eyebrow arched in both question and warning.

“Of course not,” he retorted. “You know me better than that.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about,” she said simply. “In all seriousness, I think it’d be good for you. I think you two could be good friends.”

“Trying to get rid of me already, huh? I see how it is,” he teased.

“Avoiding the subject, I see how it is,” she said, throwing his words back at him for the second time.

“You know me, Stormy… hey!”

“Do. Not. Call me. Stormy!” She punctuated each word with a slap of the remaining gardening glove. 

Remy laughed as he half-heartedly swatted her away when he suddenly stopped and put his hand to his forehead. “Apparently laughter isn’t allowed,” he said gritting his teeth as pain lanced through his head.

Storm ceased her assault. “You’ve been up for long enough anyway. Time to go in and rest.”

“Noooo, I like it in here, it’s warm and there’s dirt to play with,” he fake whined at her. “‘Sides, that room feels almost as stark as the medlab.”

“We’ll go and pick you up some things to make it more comfortable. In the meantime…” she trailed off and turned her attention to a shelf of small plants in plastic trays. She picked one and dug it out of the tray, then replanted it in a small pot. “Here, this is for you. Everyone should have some greenery in their room.”

Remy took the pot and examined the little plant. “What is it?”

“A succulent. More specifically, an echeveria. Easy to maintain, doesn’t need a lot of water. Just keep it where it will get plenty of sunlight.”

Remy smiled at the tiny plant in its little pot. There was something about the succulent that made him feel...happy? He had never really lived anywhere long enough to nurture a plant, which made him think it was Storm’s feeling he was picking up.

Still, it wasn’t a bad feeling.

He suddenly had a thought. “Can I grow something?”

Storm’s smile lit up her whole face. “Of course, what did you have in mind?”

Remy thought for a moment. “My tante has a vegetable patch behind her house. The carrots that came outta that garden were the best I ever tasted. Do you have something like that? I know it’s the wrong time of year...”

She nodded. “I have some raised beds on the south side of the institute that could work. If we get some starts going we could absolutely have fresh vegetables this year,” she said before looking at him, a wan smile on her face. “Does this mean you plan on sticking around?”

Remy rolled his eyes. “You already said I wasn’t allowed to leave, so what do you think?”

“If you really didn’t want to, I wouldn’t be able to keep you here.”

“Yeah, but you’d sure as hell try.”

“Yes I would,” she admitted without a hint of guilt. “Come on, let’s clean up and head in. We’ll find something warm to drink.”

Remy helped her tidy up before taking his new succulent and following her out of the greenhouse. He immediately missed the warmth it provided.

So focused on the chillier air he almost missed Storm calling out to someone. 

“Hello, Rogue! How was your walk?”

He looked up and saw Rogue making her way towards them, clearly also ready to get inside. “I dunno why I thought a walk would be a good idea, it is not pleasant out here. Hey, Remy.”

He smiled at her greeting. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks were flushed from the chill. The sight made his stomach do a little flip; She looked absolutely lovely.

He was so distracted he didn’t realize she was saying something. “Sorry, what?”

She gestured to the plant in his hands. “Cute plant.”

“Oh. Yeah…” he trailed off. He must be tired, he was usually more on his game than this. “Guess we’ll find out if I have a green thumb at all.”

“Those are pretty hard to kill, so you should be fine.” Rogue tucked her hair behind her ear and hurried off. “See y’all later.”

Remy watched her go, not noticing Storm come up behind him. She put an arm around his shoulder. “I must say, you’re usually a lot smoother than that.”

He looked at her and scowled. “You’re hilarious.”

Storm laughed before leading him into the kitchen to make some tea.

**Author's Note:**

> The Storm and Gambit friendship is one of my favourite relationships in X-men, so obviously it had to be worked into this series. Thanks for reading!


End file.
